What is life? Tipan pondered the question while scraping away more dirt. Sweat poured down his face. More dirt. An ache burned through his arms and legs. More dirt. What is life? Survival? It must be something more. More dirt tumbled downward into the endless blackness behind him. Even within that darkness, his eyes could still trace the steep tunnel walls descending for miles beneath the earth he had already conquered. More dirt. His hands vibrated from the growl of his shovel.

“I’m hungry too.” Tipan spoke to the tool as though it were alive. Hungry for more than food. More dirt. Fear lingered at the edge of his thoughts. Not fear of what he might discover above, but fear that the above place did not truly exist. That the world was nothing more than darkness, decay, and endless savagery. More dirt. Long ago, he had lost track of time. Weeks. Months. Perhaps longer. His food pack now rested nearly flat against his body, and the occasional root became his only source of nourishment. It did not matter. Nothing mattered unless he could satisfy the deeper hunger inside himself.

So Tipan continued. Curiosity and longing burned hotter than the pain stabbing through his empty stomach. Whatever waited above had to be worth it. It had to be. More dirt.

Another thrust of the shovel. The earth suddenly softened. Hope. The next strike hit something solid. A root. But unlike the others, this one was thick and ancient. Serrations formed along the edge of Tipan’s shovel, reshaping themselves into crude teeth that bit into the root with a low metallic growl. “Not yet, Mosfuru,” Tipan muttered. “We’re close. I can feel it.” He placed the root into his pack and kept digging. Soft dirt. Thrust. Scrape. Thrust. Scrape. So close. His arms screamed in protest, but he ignored them. Was it getting colder? Another thrust. More dirt. Another thrust —

Light exploded through the tunnel. Brilliant. Blinding. Tipan recoiled, nearly dropping Mosfuru as he clenched his eyes shut. Frigid air rushed into the tunnel, freezing the sweat coating his skin. Fine white powder drifted downward around him. The cold burned. The light burned. He welcomed both with all his heart.

The above place. Freedom. Life.

Tipan slowly adjusted to the unbearable brightness before spilling from the tunnel onto his hands and knees. White fluff surrounded him as he collapsed onto the unfamiliar surface of the world above. His shovel melted into gray slime beside him. Breathing heavily, he looked around. It was so... open. No walls. No ceiling. Nothing enclosing him.

Then he saw the sky.

That was a mistake.

His stomach lurched violently as his mind struggled to comprehend the endless expanse above him. There was no stone overhead. No boundary. The sky simply continued upward forever. Panic seized him. Tipan squeezed his eyes shut again and clawed at the frozen ground as if he might somehow fall upward into that infinite void above. Kneeling there, shivering and exhausted, he fought back the urge to vomit. Yet beneath the terror was something stronger. Wonder. He was free.

The cold no longer bit at his skin as his body slowly adapted. Panting from exhaustion, he forced himself back to his feet while carefully keeping his eyes lowered. Behind him rested the small tunnel leading back into the depths. Back to the world he had escaped.

“Only one thing left to do now,” he whispered to the remains of his once-shovel. “Can’t let my brothers follow me.” His voice sounded rougher than he remembered. Older. The climb had changed him.

Tipan raised a trembling hand. “Tokandis.” Faint brown aurora-like trails spiraled through the air before flowing into his body. Then he slammed his hand into the ground. The mountain answered with violence. The earth shook. Stone cracked. Dirt thundered downward as the narrow escape tunnel collapsed into itself forever.

Slowly, Tipan forced himself to look upward once more. If he could conquer the deep, then perhaps he could conquer the heights as well. For a brief moment, awe overtook him as he gazed upon the countless lights glittering across the heavens. Then the nausea returned. And Tipan fell back to his knees.